Drying apparatus



H. WETTIG.

DRYING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.26,1920.

1 ,359,301 Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

i 101% a g lnvenior: /./ez n rz c l I/I/effy UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HEINRICH WETTIG, F ERFURT, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO 3. TOP F & SOEHNE, OF ERFURT, GERMANY. v

DRYING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

Application filed August 26, 1920. Serial No. 406,254.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HEINRICH WETTIG,

manager, a citizen of Germany, residing at Erfurt, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drying Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates'to a device for drying or curing materials of any klnd whatever occurring in the shape of grains or small particles, and in which thematerial to be dried or cured is fed either contlnuously or at intervals through vertical upright shafts (the side walls of which are so constructed as to freely allow the an to pass through) while being at the same time sub- 'ected to the action of the drying air entering laterally through the shafts. To this end, there are arranged to either side of adrying shaft, or intermediate two drylngshafts where a plurality of such are employed, horizontally disposed partitions or bafiies for the purpose of according to the air flow an alternating direction sidewise through the shafts. The essential feature of the invention resides in producing devices by aid of which the layers of material disposed at various heights within the apparatus may obtain an additional supply of air, either hot or cold, separately or mixed,

for the purpose of drying the material disposed within the different sections of the apparatus in full accordance with the .diversity of its nature, and particularly, the

ss'varying degree of its humidity.

According to my invention the above mentioned bafiies are used for the purpose of injtroducing to the drying shaft by their aid and with the intervention of suitable air 40 inlets, at will either hot or cold air in an alternating direction of flow. By these means all the layers, the limits of which are determined by the horizontal partition arranged at different heights, and the sliding plates, or the like, disposed at approximately the same level, may be suitably ventilated in accordance with the state of dryness or of curing in which the material constituting. said layersmay happen to be for the time being.

The same result will.also be obtained in accordance with my invention by the provision of special air chambers or air con- I air.

duits formed by the construction of special Fig. 3 a vertical sectional view disclosing the arrangement of the hinged baffles.

Fig. 4 a vertical section of a modified form of construction of the apparatus.-

The apparatus per 86 is of the customary construction. The containers for the material to be dried or cured. as also the heating and ventilating devices are erected in a drying or curing-house, the outer walls 1 of which generall terminate in an arched or dome-shaped r00 2 (Fig. 1), supporting the ventilating pipe ,3. The required heat is generated in a furnace or oven 4 communicating by means of a brick channel 5 with the system of'pipes 6 of the' heating chamber 7 The flue gases traverse the plpe system'6 and are then conducted into the open The deliver of the heat from the heating chamber l nozzles 8.

By means of adjustable openings, 15

formed in the top of the stoke-hole, and also peripheral passages 16, the supply of cold air required is admitted into the drying or curing chambers.

The shafts 10 in any desired number upon a false bottom 9. The side walls of said shafts may be is effected by the aid of for the drying material are arranged in any suitable arrangement and made in the known manner of slotted or perforated sheet metal so as to allow a free passage for the air. In the forms of execution shown, two shafts always form a set having a common hot air generator 4. The shafts are charged from above at 11 (Fig. 1), the discharge is permitted below by opening the lowermost closing plate 12. In the construction illustrated, after the plate 12 is opened the material drops into troughs or 20 horizontally disposed bafiles into three secchutes 13 which are emptied by means of conve er,worms 14. The discharge is effecte either continuously or at regular intervals, in accordance with the nature of the service.

The air chambers 17 disposed interme-' diate the shafts 10, and also between these latter and the outer walls 1, are provided .with baflies 18 in the customary manner in such wise that the air ascending from below and laterally traversing the shafts will be caused to flow successively and in an alternating direction across the different superposed layers of material as indicated by\the arrows in the drawing.

In the forms of execution shown, the arrangement provides for a drying or curing at three different heights or levels, the columns of material being subdivided b means of slides 20 at about the height of'the tions.

Subject to the constructions disclosed in Figs. 1 to 3, the means for ventilating at will the said three sections comprise the bafiies 18 along with the members serving for the supply of the hot and cold air pro-,

vided within the air chambers 17 for each section. Each division, or certain thereof, is either in direct communication with, or else is provided with, an adjustable inlet'22 for the cold air and another inlet 21 connected to the hot air chamber 19.- It will thus be seen that each of the divisions formed by the bafiles 18 in the air chambers 17 may be separately supplied as desired with an additional quantity of either hot or cold air, separately or mixed. The separate ventilation of the single divisions subject to requirement is best. shown in the con-' struction. according to'Fig. 2, in the case of which each division of the air chambers 17 is closed by two superposed baiiies 18.

These methods of construction at the same time render it possible to ventilate the material in alternate directions, a feature which is bound to secure a uniform and thorough airing of the material. To this particular end, as shown in Fig. 1, the baffles 18 are arranged to slide so that they may be moved into the positions indicated by dotted lines. In a like manner, the inlets 21 may be so controlled that alternately always one will be closed when the other is open. -By suitably reversing the air inlets and displacing the baflles, the air will then flow through each layer in a sense counter to its own preceding movement, as indicated by the arrows drawn in dotted lines. The manner of sup porting and displacing the baffies 18 may be efl'ected by means of any of the devices known: this also applies to the operation of the slides orflaps 20 arranged in the air shafts.

.In the form of construction subject to Fig. 2 the bafiies are rigidlysecured in their position and provided with correspondingly ad ustable air passages 25 by means of which in connection with the correspondingly adjusted air inlets 21, the air may be caused to flow uniformly in both directions through each layer. The manner of operation of this form of construction will be readily understood by reference to Fig. 2.

For the like purpose, the baffles may, as

shown in Fig.v 3 be hinged either for the whole .or only a part of their extent, so as to admit of their being turned back. Bv suitably adjusting the hinged bafiies- 26, or the hinged sections 27 thereof, the direction taken by the air flow may likewise be suitably reversed in the manner above indicated. Owing to the fact that the columns of material are subdivided by the slide plates intermediateslide plates serve moreover not only for the emptying of the lowermost sections, which contain the completely dried material, but also to enable the material to gradually shift downward as required.

They thus reliably serye to prevent any commixing of the materlal contalned- 1n the different sections such as would be liable to impair a uniform method of treatment as well as the quality of'the material.

In the form of construction disclosed in Fig. 4, between the shafts and the walls 1 there are laterally arranged vertical air chambers or conduits 28 communicating by means of adjustable airpassages 29 with the air chambers 17, also by means of adjustable air passages 30 and 31 with the inlets 16 and 19 for the cold and hot air supply respectively. Another air chamber 28 intermediate the shafts is connected by a channel 32 with the atmosphere or the stoke hole in order to enable the required quantity of cold air to be directly supplied tothis chamber and has valves 34: control-- ling the passage of air therefrom to the air chamber 17. The channel 32 may be controlled by a valve 30. In addition to being in communication with the cold air supply through the channel 32, the central air chamber 28 is in communication with the hot air chamber 19 by the intervention of v adjustable'air passages 33.

By means of these devices an additional quantity of hot and cold air may be intro- ,duced either in a separate or in a mixed state into the air chambers 17. The outlet ports 29, 34 for the air opening in said chambers, are arranged in such a number and are distributed in such wise, that the additional air maybe introduced directly from the source of supply of both hot and cold air to any point of the apparatus with due regard to the various layers of ma-. terial. If, for example, the second section, that is to say, the central layer of material shall obtain a supply of air of either a higher or lower rate of temperature than appertains to the flow of air departing from the first, z. e., lowermost layer, then there are admitted through the lower air ports 34 of the air chambers 28 intermediate the layers of material, according to requirement any desired quantities of either hot or izeither raised or lowered by a suitable addi tion of either hot or cold air supplied by the lateral chambers 28, the temperature quantity of the supplemental air being con trolled by a suitable regulation of the inlets 29, 30, 31 of the chambers 17 It is obvious that in both cases either hot or cold air may be directly supplied in any quant ty desired. By the same means, moreover, the quantity of air traversing the different layers may be regulated, independently, whereby, the draft existing 1n the apparatus maybe rendered strong or weak, as c rcumstances may require. ThlS regulation of the temperature and of the draft, may be sides be separately arranged for each layerof material, or be effected at any desired degree by a mere adjustment of the outlet control members for the additional air su l Whit I claim as my invention andwlsh to secure by Letters Patent is:

- 1. In a drier or similar apparatus, the combination of a vertical shaft for the material to be treated, said shaft having reticulated walls for the free passage of air; means for dividing the shaft into a plurality of sections; means for directing air transversely through said sections, said means be ing arranged so that the direction of flow of the air alternates in juxtaposed sectlons; and means for introducing to said sections at will either hot air or cold air.

2. In a drier or similar apparatus, the combination of a vertical shaft forthe material to be treated, said shaft having reticulated walls for the free passage of air, means for dlvidingthe shaft into a plurality of sections; means for directing ai'r transversely through said sections, said means being arranged so that the direction of flow of the air alternates in juxtaposed sections; and means for introducing to said sections at will either hot air or hot and cold air.

3. In a drier or similar apparatus, the combination of a vertical shaft for the material to be treated, said shaft having reticulated walls for the free passage of air; means for dividing the shaft into a plurality of sections; means for directing airtransverselv through said sections, said means being arranged so that the direction of flow of the air alternates in juxtaposed sections and beingmovable to permit the direction of flow of the air to be reversed at will; and means for introducing to said sections at will either hot air or cold air.

'4. In a drier or similar apparatus, the

combination of a vertical shaft for the material to be treated, said shaft having reticulatedwall's for the free passage of air; means for dividing the shaft into a plurality of sections; means for directing air transversely through said sections, said means being arranged so that. the direction of flow of the air alternates in juxtaposed sections; adjustable means for introducing hot air to said sections; and adjustable means for introducing cold air to said sections, said first and second named adjustable means being adapted to jointly control the temperature of the air flowingto each of said sections.

5. In a drier or similar apparatus, the combination of a housing; a vertical. shaft having reticulated walls mounted in said housing and spaced therefrom to provide an air chamber; means for dividing the shaft into a pluralityof sections; means including bafiles in said air chamber for directing the v flow of air transversely through said sections hot air inlets in said air chamber; valves for regulating the flow of hot air through said inlets; cold air inlets to said air chamber; and valves for directing the flow of 'cold air to said air chamber.

6. In a drier or similar apparatus, the

combination of a housing; a vertical shaft for material to be treated having reticulated walls and mounted in said housing and spaced therefrom to provide an air chamber; means for dividing said shaft into a plurality of sections; an air heating means mounted in said housing; valves for controlling the passage of hot air from said air heating means to said air chamber; means in said air chamber comprising baflles for causing the air to flow in alternate directions in juxtaposed sections of the shaft; cold air inlets in said air chamber; and valves for versely through said sections, said means be- 10 controlling the flow of cold. air to; said air ing arranved sothat the direction of flow of chamber. the air alternates in juxtaposed sections;

7. In a drier or similar apparatus, th means for introducing to said sections a supcombination of'avertical shaft for the maply of hot air; and means for introducing terial to be treated, said shaft having reticuat will to'said sections an additional supply 15 lated walls for the free passage of air; means of cold air or hot and cold air. for dividing the shaft into a plurality of In testimony whereof I afiix my si ature. sections; means for directing air trans- HEINRICH WE TIG. 

